ON  THE  ACT  REGULATING  THE  SALE  OF  POISONS.  117 
For  a  better  understanding  of  the  subject,  we  have  been 
kindly  furnished  with  a  copy  of  the  Law,  and  some  remarks  on 
its  judical  interpretation,  by  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  bar, 
and  a  former  graduate  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
The  Act  of  Assembly  in  regard  to  the  Selling  of  Poisons,  (&c.,  passed 
the  Zlst  day  of  March,  1800. 
[See  Pamphlet  Laws,  1860,  page  401,  §70.  Also  Pardon's  Digest,  page  1351:] 
Sec.  70 — No  apothecary,  druggist  or  other  person,  shall  sell  or  dis- 
pose of,  by  retail,  auy  morphia,  strychnia,  arsenic,  priissic  acid  or  corro- 
sive sublimate,  except  upon  the  prescription  of  a  physician,  or  on  the 
personal  application  of  some  respectable  inhabitant  of  full  age,  of  the 
town  or  place  in  which  such  sale  shall  be  made  ;  and  in  all  cases  of  such 
sale,  the  word  poison  shall  be  carefully  and  legibly  marked  or  placed  upon 
the  label,  package,  bottle,  or  other  vessel  or  thing  in  which  such  poison 
is  contained  ;  and  when  sold  or  disposed  of,  otherwise  than  under  the 
prescription  of  a  physician,  the  apothecary,  druggist  or  other  person  sel- 
ling or  disposing  of  the  same,  shall  note  in  a  register,  kept  for  that  pur- 
pose, the  name  and  residence  of  the  person  to  whom  such  sale  was  made, 
the  quantity  sold,  and  the  date  of  such  sale ;  any  person  offending,  shall 
be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and,  on  conviction,  be  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine 
not  exceeding  fifty  dollars." 
Dear  Sir, —In  obedience  to  your  request,  I  furnish  you  above  with 
a  copy  of  the  section  of  the  new  criminal  code,  relating  to  the  sale  of 
poisons,  &c.  The  report  on  the  code  says  :  Its  object  is  to  prevent  mis- 
takes in  the  sale  of  noxioas  drugs  ;  to  throw  impediments  in  the  way  of 
malicious  and  wicked  persons  obtaining  Lhem  for  murderous  purposes,  and 
to  facilitate  the  detection  of  such  persons,  when  their  malignant  purpose 
has  been  accomplished.  The  instances  of  murder,  by  poison,  have  re- 
cently increased  to  a  frightful  extent,  both  in  Europe  and  in  this  country, 
and  such  legislation  is  demanded  for  the  suppression  of  this  crime." 
Whether  this  law  will  accomplish  the  objects  pointed  out  in  this  report 
on  the  code,  or  whether  the  passage  of  any  Law  on  the  subject  is  benefi- 
cial, does  not  come  within  your  question.  As  to  the  terms  and  requirements 
of  the  law  and  the  proper  method  of  obeying  its  command, — 
What  are  these  ? 
First.  A  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  specified  poisons,  except  in  certain 
cases  expressly  pointed  out  by  the  law  itself. 
Second.  The  manner  of  marking  or  labeling  the  article  containing  such 
poison. 
Third.    A  registration  of  the  sale,  &c. 
Fourth.  The  grade  of  the  offence  for  violating  the  provisions  of  the 
Act  and  the  penalty  for  so  doing. 
I  will  take  up  the  divisions  of  the  Act  in  their  order. 
First.  ''Morphia,  strychnia,  arsenic,  prussic  acid,  or  corrosive  sublimate,'' 
are  the  only  poisons  named  in  the  Act;  but  probably  a  judicial  decision. 
